Chapter 46: Survival
A/N: Last intermediate chapter before the War Arc officially starts. I'm excited to do this, especially since I finally have everything planned out so hope you guys are as well.
In a large circular room within Beacon Academy, there was an open stage. The lights were dimmed but off to one side, seats for all of the students were aligned. Hundreds of eye's watched and a bunch of people was cheering in excitement.
"Go, Blake!"
"You know I think this might be the first time we've seen her actually fight."
"Huh? Now that I think about it, you're right. She usually doesn't join in combat training." Out of everyone the group that passively attracted the most attention were three girls.
The most excited of the three was a girl with silver eyes and black hair sporting red tips. Her clothes looked almost gothic, sporting mostly black and red from her boots to her dress paired with a corset-like dress. She seemed almost childlike in nature.
The other sitting next to her seemed older in most ways. Fiery yellow hair accompanied with bright velvet eyes. Her clothes seemed to be a mix of brown and different shades of yellow. If it wasn't for their more revealing nature you could even call them tomboyish.
And lastly was the white-haired girl having a ponytailed style for her hair and her clothes seeming more regal than anything. White and blue adorned her including her light blue eyes and her nearly princess-like dress and overall feel. If Shen was here it would only take their voices for him to recognize them.
The Main Cast of RWBY in their first appearance attire with the last being Blake herself who was currently on that very stage being watched. Shen had sent her here soon after his first meeting with Cinder, which meant a good amount of time had passed.
Despite that time she was still wearing that same Grimm-infused Ultima Uniform Shen gave her. It looked as if it had evolved past its original design. Though what was also quite interesting was that Blake stopped making the effort to hide her Faunus identity. Instead, her mind was completely elsewhere.
'He sent me here to act as his ears within Beacon, but he still hasn't contacted me directly… Being patient like this is so annoying.' Blake looked slightly irritated as Glynda raised her hand, and spoke signaling the start of the match.
'Gosh damn Faunus, she's looking down on me…' Seeing the completely apparent detachment from the match Blake was showing, Cardin grit his teeth and tensed up his body.
"Begin!"
Without a moment's notice, Cardin charged at Blake with Mace his both hands. He swung down at her the moment he was in range ferociously. Everyone seemed to watch as the attack connected, but then Blake's figure faded like a physical shadow.
"Huh?" Cardin of course was the most confused.
"Where did Blake go?"
"She just disappeared…"
The next moment Cardin could hear a voice lingering its way into his ear. "Now that I think about it I have been feeling hungrier lately."
Those words were not directed at him, however, he couldn't help but feel a chill as the entirety of his vision was enshrouded in what seemed to be shadow. Fear crept upon him from all sides as he began to panic looking around.
"What the hell's going on! What did you do!" Swinging his Mace through the darkness around him, he completely failed to notice Blake's presence behind him. Her eyes had turned black with him Grim-like irises shining through the dark and the red veins across her body seemingly being the only light around.
For a brief moment, Cardin heard the sound of someone's mouth widening right behind him. However when he turned around, no one was there, instead, all he felt was a fierce hit in the back of his neck. In an instant, his Aura shattered as his consciousness faded. After that, the darkness faded.
For everyone off stage, all they had seen was a sudden dark orb enshroud the area around Blake and Cardin.
"Uh…" Coughing Glynda collected herself.
"The winner of this match is Blake Belladonna!"
'That was close… It's getting harder to control every day.' Blake was holding down her own arm as her eyes flashed back to normal. Despite being away from him, the Grimm Influence Shen implanted into Blake had not dulled in the slightest. In fact, it was getting more intense as time passed, evolving and growing stronger.
Returning back to the other's she saw Ruby and Yang looking at her with fiery expressions.
"Blake, how did you do that! I didn't know your semblance was so cool!"
"Ya, that was awesome! You and he disappeared and then the next second he was on the ground. Like a ninja!"
"Hehe, I suppose so." Blake could only smile when she heard them clammer to her. In all honesty, she considered these three the only ones worth being kept alive here in Beacon. A strange sense of familiarity loft around them, although she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination or not.
As the girls conversed, combat training had ended shortly after. In fact, all lessons taught by Glynda had been canceled. And that was all because of a single summon's from Ozpin.
"What did you say?" Immediately a cry of outroar came from an energetic yet older man's voice. At his desk, Ozpin had a video conference open, but this time around it contained more than just Ironwood. Theodore, the Headmaster of Vale's Academy was there as well.
"Jame's do you have any idea what the consequences of what you're suggesting are?" Even Glynda couldn't remain silent after hearing what Ironwood said.
"I am aware canceling the Vytal Festival would require a mass agreement. However, these measures have to be taken." Ironwood stood firm when he spoke to everyone else. Ozpin in particular had a solemn expression as he replied.
"Can you at least tell us why you have made such a large leap when it comes to security? Salem's presence is disturbing, but even she wouldn't be hasty enough to attack any one of our Kingdom within such a short period. Especially after the effort, she went through destroying Argus."
Having been reincarnated into a new body every time he died in this world, Ozpin has been battling Salem for longer than anyone could imagine. He understood how she thought and acted as crazed as she was; she was clever enough not to be so hasty.
"Because we were wrong. As much as I hate to say it, a more immediate and dangerous threat has revealed itself in Mistral… That's exactly why I told you to exclude Lionheart from this call."
"James, what are you on about?" Glynda's inquiry caused Ironwood to lower his head almost as if he was displeased with the information he had to deliver.
"I had spies sent into Mistral to learn of the situation."
"What? What the hell were you thinking? You could have caused an international incident with a stunt like that!" Theodore's voice came through this time around and visually everyone was disturbed.
"I am aware, however, I don't regret my actions. One of the most important things to note is the unrest at Mistral's borders. As open as they seem to the outside looking in, they've almost been completely shut down. Not only that but I learned that the group that has been assisting Salem has grown exponentially. Practically every Syndicate in Mistral is under their thumb, and that means they have their fangs in every one of our Kingdom's as well."
If this news wasn't disturbing enough, then what Ironwood said next most certainly was.
"The White Fang as I'm sure you're all aware is a major threat that has existed for some time now. However, I should make it clear that even the White Fang has been assimilated into this group. By all means, their influence surpasses anything we've seen before and worse yet they even have support from major Noble Families."
To an outsider this might not seem like that big of a deal, however, it most certainly was. Every Kingdom had its pillar's and Noble Families were the central ones no matter which Kingdom it was. They supplied most of the wealth and their companies and corporations held major monopolies that kept the Economy buzzing.
Losing support from Noble Families could easily doom a Kingdom based on their dependency. So if this group was as large as Jame's claimed and had their support? This was no longer a terrorist group or criminals they could put off to the side. Just them having the White Fang alone, put their numbers into the thousands.
And a group like that is working with Salem? The atmosphere in the room immediately turned sour as everyone's faces blackened.
"I see, it makes sense you would want to meet with us then… This threat has clearly grown beyond any of our singular Kingdom's control. We should contact Lionhear-" Ozpin was cut off by Ironwood as he shook his head.
"No. I'm afraid it's too late for that. Considering how my own spies managed to learn this much despite all of the clear attempts to suppress information, it's impossible that Lionheart and the Council of Mistral aren't aware. However, they never contacted us about it…" Ironwood's words caused Ozpin and Glynda's eyes to contract.
"Wha- What are you saying Ironwood!" Theodore's voice carried heavy amounts of unrest as he spoke.
"I'm afraid that the entirety of Mistral's Government and Academy may already be compromised. As much as I hate to say it, Salem is no longer our main issue here...." That much was very obvious and sadly even Ironwood didn't know the half of it.
Menagerie, home to a majority of the world's Faunus population. Known as the place Faunus go when they simply want to be left alone and a place that could be considered peaceful. And the largest city within such a Menagerie, Kuo Kuana. Near the center of the City lies the Belladonna Family Home which also acted as the Chieftain's home.
Yet it was close to being set ablaze as massive crowds of Faunus surrounded it, throwing rocks and molotovs at it still screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Traitor!"
"Coward!"
It was absolute chaos and even the guards could hardly hold back such a massive riot. Meanwhile, inside of the house itself, things were no better. In Fact, they could be considered worse. Shen's forces were already inside and there was a battle taking place between them and the Belladonna Family Guards.
"Is this what you wanted, Sienna? The entire City is in an uproar because of you! Do you understand what you've done!" A deep roaring voice filled with anger came from Ghira Belladonna, Blake's father. He was injured yet his eye's still burned with fury.
Next to him his wife Kali had the exact same look in her eyes. The two of them were on their own in the deepest section of the house. Yet the battle and roars from outside still reached their ears. Sienna standing just a few meters from them couldn't help but sigh.
"I hope you understand I never wanted it to come to this. If you had just agreed this could have ended without anyone having to die…" Sienna's voice was soft yet clear, showing no remorse or regret whatsoever.
"You… You turned the people against us with lies! How could you? After everything we've done striving for peace!" Kali just couldn't understand what Sienna was thinking, or what was going through her head. This entire situation seemed unreal.
"I guess it makes sense you wouldn't understand. You two locked yourselves away on this island, no longer caring about what happened on the mainland. You have no idea… So instead I have to do what I can. For the sake of the Faunus, so that we can all live to see another day. There is no other way for this to end."
The two of them couldn't understand what Sienna meant by that. In Fact, no one could, unless they had been there when Shen spoke to her. Closing her eyes she snapped her fingers causing dozens of soldiers to burst into the room. They were all carrying weapons aimed and primed for the Husband and Wife pair.
"This is madness…" Ghira whispered under his breath yet Sienna still heard it.
'I know. But this is the only way. The world's going to hell soon. That much is evident. But the Faunus can survive and prosper if they can get past the dark days ahead. And if require's us all serving 'that' man then so be it. Otherwise… I don't even want to think about what he would do to this place.'
Clenching her fist Sienna offered a few final words before turning to leave. "I don't plan on killing the two of you. I doubt Blake would let me live if I did. But when you two do wake up, know that everything is for the future of our race." With that Sienna left completely hearing the sound of fighting breaking out in the area she was just in.
"Survival… That's all that matters at this point, Sienna. Just carry out your orders don't look back, stay focused. That's the only way any of us are making it out of this."
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